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Kristi Toliver should have worn a different shirt. The Washington Mystics’ veteran guard was not quiet about her and her team’s intentions as they walked into enemy territory in Connecticut for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals: They wanted to clinch the franchise’s first-ever championship, and they wanted to do it tonight.Read more...

It appears disgraced former Baylor head football coach Art Briles has brought scandal to his new team, the Mount Vernon Tigers of the Mount Vernon Independent School District, in (you guessed it) Mount Vernon, Texas. Briles and his high school program were publicly reprimanded by a unanimous six-member District…Read more...

Ben Simmons’s extreme reluctance to attempt shots from outside the paint during his two healthy NBA seasons has been overshadowed somewhat by both the vastly stranger shooting struggles of a fellow 76ers top pick, and by Simmons’s own general two-way excellence. But his shooting stroke has been badly busted, and the…Read more...

Denver Broncos cornerback De’Vante Bausby had to be taken off the field on a backboard during the second quarter of his team’s game against the Chargers on Sunday after a helmet-to-helmet collision with his teammate, Alexander Johnson, as both went for a tackle. Bausby went to a trauma center after the injury, and…Read more...

At the tail end of First Take’s extended discussion today about the ongoing debacle between the NBA and China, Stephen A. Smith had one final take he wanted to get off. He began auspiciously, if not with his trademark eloquence: “I would remind you that, throughout this world, one of the things that exists is the…Read more...

The Athletic didn’t publish any articles about Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s since-deleted Friday tweet in support of pro-democracy Hong Kong protestors, or about the subsequent manic attempts at damage control by the Rockets owner and the NBA, until a couple days after the controversy began. It was a long enough…Read more...

It is time now to enter the depths of Handshakeghazi.

If you paid attention to ESPN channels yesterday, you saw the network repeatedly attempt to grapple with the story of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey creating an international incident after tweeting and then deleting his support for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong. You heard talking head after…Read more...

Bastian Schweinsteiger was three different players. The German superstar, who announced his retirement from soccer on Tuesday, is leaving behind one of the most peculiar careers in recent soccer memory. From a wide player breaking into Germany’s 2006 World Cup side, to one of the best and most idiosyncratic central…Read more...

Today, we’re talking about getting eaten by a whale, state names as first names, typos, Hitler, butter knives, and more.Read more...

Stadium’s Jeff Goodman spoke with Gonzaga coach Mark Few yesterday about California’s recently passed Fair Pay to Play Act and the broader movement to see college athletes compensated for their labor. Few expressed some wishy-washy support for players being able to make some money, but only after bizarrely going in on…Read more...

TrailBuddy offers just about everything you could want in a pair of trekking poles.

Andy Murray’s happy return to tennis wouldn’t have been complete without some trademark stink-faced kvetching—mostly at himself, but occasionally at his opponent when the situation warrants. Few opponents deserve a good kvetch in the face like Fabio Fognini, Murray’s matchup in the second round of the Shanghai…Read more...

It was all so good just four months ago. Back then, Tottenham were in the midst of their best Champions League run ever, beating Manchester City and Ajax on consecutive last-second magic tricks and getting ready to face Liverpool in the final. What a difference four months can make.Read more...

Today brings us what will hopefully be the final update about the state of Jets quarterback Sam Darnold’s spleen, which was thrust into a precarious position by the mononucleosis virus that has kept him out of action since Week 2. We are pleased to pass along the following announcement: Spleen strong.Read more...

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has released a second public statement regarding the controversy over Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, and the Chinese government’s punitive response to the tweet.Read more...

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This has been said many times before, but the Cleveland Browns asked for this. All the hype and shit-talking that followed them throughout the preseason set them up precisely for the kind of embarrassing loss they had last night. Not only did the 49ers beat them 31-3, they took every opportunity to rub Baker…Read more...

As five weeks is usually more than sufficient time to establish the true pecking order in the National Football League, it is now clear that Super Bowl LIV (as opposed to Super Bowl LUV) will feature the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.

The last time the Minnesota Twins won a playoff game, Shannon Stewart knocked in Michael Cuddyer for the go-ahead run, Jacque Jones homered, and Johan Santana threw seven scoreless innings as the Twins beat the Yankees in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS. The next night, Hideki Matsui singled off J.C. Romero to score Derek…Read more...

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Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai, a pro Hearthstone player from Hong Kong, ended a stream earlier this week with a statement of support for those engaged in months-long protests against local police and government. As a result of this, Blizzard has ruled that he violated competition rules, and have handed out a heavy…Read more...

The Cleveland Browns’ dewy preseason vainglory wouldn’t be especially bothersome had it not (a) convinced people that sucking for a long time is shrewd and reasonable; and (b) compelled whoever’s in charge to slot the Browns in four primetime games this season. Monday night, the joke was on them. The Browns were left…Read more...

The Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Twins Monday night, with a 5–1 win in Minnesota to end their American League divisional series. These games were not close. The Yankees scored 23 runs in the series, to the Twins’ seven. Every other divisional series is still active, with both National League series…Read more...

Davey Martinez and the Washington Nationals didn’t resort to another bullpen appearance from a starting pitcher Monday night, thank God. That’s a gimmick that was bound to fail the more it’s used, either spectacularly and all at once, or cumulatively, or both. It already blew up in their faces Sunday night; Monday, a…Read more...

Marcus Morris is determined to bring some tenacity back to a moribund Knicks team that still lacks much by way of high-end talent, but could make up some of the difference by playing coherent basketball for the first time in years. Morris got a good start on establishing a certain toughness for this team Monday night…Read more...

Let’s quickly get out of the way that none of this means anything. The NBA’s regular season doesn’t start for another few weeks; any basketball these teams play before that is of zero consequence. OK, now: holy shit! Zion Williamson is a certified monster! After about a half-hour of careful inspection, I can safely…Read more...

The St. Louis Cardinals evened up their NLDS series against the Atlanta Braves Monday night, on a 10th-inning sacrifice fly to left field to score Kolten Wong. It was Molina’s second big feat of batsmanship of the game, and he was super-duper pumped to have driven in the winning run. So pumped, in fact, that he…Read more...

Seventeen-year-old Smash Ultimate prodigy Sota “Zackray” Okada clutched out his first No. 1 placement at a U.S. Smash tournament using—count ’em—six separate Smash fighters.

Let us now chronicle the rise and sort-of fall of British YouTuber and now-former national e-cycling champion Cameron Jeffers. Unfortunately, the nouns in this story do not become that much easier to understand as we proceed, but please bear with me.

Ahead of his radio program this afternoon, Stephen A. Smith clearly thought long and hard about Daryl Morey’s tweet supporting Hong Kong protestors, the ensuing controversy and Morey’s subsequent backtracking, and the large-scale implications of all of the above on relationships between China and U.S.-based…Read more...

In summary: On Friday night, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted a fairly bland slogan-like expression of support—“Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”—for ongoing protests against the mainland Chinese government’s encroachment on the autonomy of Hong Kong. Because the Rockets are the second-most…Read more...

Two years ago on this very website, Dr. Patrick Wyman wrote about the single most important question facing the UFC: where is the next generation of stars? It’s been a rough search, but last weekend, I think we finally found a great candidate.

The NBA already knows the math. The NBA already knows that whatever price it may pay for aligning themselves with the Chinese government against one of its own teams’ employees—all because Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted out a show of support for protesters in Hong Kong—will be nothing compared to what they stood to…Read more...

There’s no need to go crazy and say that the Colts spent last night drawing up the blueprints for how to beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, or that running the ball is suddenly the key to winning in the NFL. This was just one game, but it was fun as hell, and it’s worth spending some time today luxuriating in just…Read more...

Adam Silver has been credited for many things in his time fronting the money of the National Basketball Association, and even after you allow for the 30 percent reputational mark-up when compared with the other commissioners in North American sports, he’s done quite well. But now he is confronted by the…Read more...

At 11:56 p.m. on Sunday night, staffers at Sports Illustrated/Maven received an email titled “A Message from SI Leadership.” The email was an attempt to do some damage control in the wake of a story Deadspin published on Friday, which detailed how SI’s new owners plan to turn the prestigious magazine into a content…Read more...

The 25-year-old Red Wings winger Anthony Mantha has spent the past few seasons threatening to become a truly great goalscorer, and on Sunday night against the Stars, he announced himself with a spectacular performance befitting his high expectations. Mantha has been a solid 20-goal guy for the Wings over the past…Read more...

If you were to work backwards, you’d find it pretty difficult to understand what exactly Daryl Morey said, and who exactly was so offended by it.

After an embarrassing yet expected 33-7 “home” loss to the Patriots, after which everyone already knew head coach Jay Gruden would be fired ... Washington fired him. This being the Skins, though, they did it in the most disrespectful manner imaginable.

As far as pseudo-holidays go, Bidet Week may be my favorite. For the better part of the year, I’ve championed the purchase and subsequent use of bidets to the chagrin of my co-workers and loved ones.Read more...

For those who revel in the schadenfreude that the failures of Jon Gruden tend to provide, Sunday’s Bears-Raiders game was a big moment as it was the first time Khalil Mack would face off against his former team. Yet the narrative of the Mack trade constantly blowing up in Gruden’s face had to be put on hold, as the…Read more...

Shit sucks in Skins land these days, which is about as evergreen a statement as there is, but it sucks enough at this specific moment that everyone in the building is having a very bad time. The Skins were blown out at home by the Patriots on Sunday, 33–7, in front of a crowd that was overwhelmingly supporting the…Read more...

Bills Mafia made its way to Nashville on Sunday for their beloved Buffalo team’s game against the Tennessee Titans. Along with a plethora of alcohol, and well-worn Jim Kelly jerseys, the visiting fans also brought with them their desire to do the wildest shit possible during their tailgates. Here, this Bills fan stuck…Read more...

Last week, when Deshaun Watson answered a thoughtful post-game question with a hyper-detailed breakdown of Carolina’s defense, there was some confusion over whether he was showing up the reporter. Now that Watson has given a similarly thorough answer to a question following his dominant performance Sunday, we can…Read more...

Sunday’s edition of the Ravens-Steelers rivalry wasn’t exactly what people would call a “classic,” or “all that watchable.” As overtime approached, I personally wished for the sweet release of death to arrive before the end of the game did. Fortunately, it did not so I was able to witness Marlon Humphrey—the only…Read more...

Democratic presidential candidate and absolute spring chicken Joe Biden, who definitely has a very strong sense of what’s going on around him at all times and does not appreciate you constantly dabbing at his chin with a handkerchief, took some time out of his busy campaign schedule Sunday to wish Mystics superstar…Read more...

The Atlanta Braves are supposed to be discouraging the “tomahawk chop” celebration at home games. Or, anyway, that’s what commissioner Rob Manfred told the Washington Post back in February, that the Braves had “taken steps to take out” the chant. But they’re not discouraging it, not really—the Braves were still…Read more...

Mason Rudolph had to be helped off the field in the third quarter of the Steelers’ game against the Ravens on Sunday after being on the receiving end of a brutal hit from two Baltimore defenders. On a third down play, Rudolph scrambled out of the pocket as he looked for an open receiver. Right after he released the…Read more...

Folksy goofus Terry Bradshaw was doing a highlight read during halftime of the Vikings-Giants game when he managed to spill coffee all over the tablet of fellow host Curt Menefee, like a big clumsy boob.Read more...